


Wished-For Child

by AustenJane



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Loss, New Family, Parenthood, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 20:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17029701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AustenJane/pseuds/AustenJane
Summary: Roy Harper returns to Star City for one last mission at the behest of Felicity Smoak.





	Wished-For Child

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, there! Potential Spoilers ahead...
> 
> This story (and possible other stories that will accompany it if my muse allows) loosely follows the combination of theories I've seen going around on Twitter and other places (special shout out to JBuffy and Callistawolf and their podcast!) that the "Maya" character is/could be Olicity's daughter who they had to send away for her safety AND that Roy Harper may have been the one to raise her. 
> 
> As you can see, I have some other idea about what her name could potentially be.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts/theories in the comments as well. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

“Just take her. Here. _Please_.”

He reaches out and attempts to take the sleeping girl from her arms, but it’s not that easy. Her little face is buried in her neck, the only thing visible is her long, blonde braid. Her hands are full of her mother’s shirt, clinging. She must sense it, even as she sleeps, that she’s being let go of.

“Please, Roy. Please—“ Her voice is frantic, desperate. A voice he hasn’t heard come out of her mouth in so, so long. She’s begging him to do it-- to rip the band aid off, because she can’t. If it was left up to her she doesn’t know if she ever would.

Roy reaches out, all the way this time, and takes her. She stirs and whimpers, but the events over the last day or so have completely exhausted the poor thing. She couldn’t really wake up and protest even if she wanted to. He stares at the woman before him, the one he once knew so well. She’s different, now-- still beautiful, but world-weary. It’s written into the furrow of her brow and the jaw she doesn’t think he can see that she has clenched. She looks so much older than what she actually is. They both do.

He notices her shirt stretched from where the little girl clutched at it and it pulls him back into the present. It hits him suddenly, that he’s cradling the child who’d soon become the center of his and his wife’s world. He watches her let out a sob in spite of herself, as he prepares to leave with her toddler. She throws her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, but she muffles it only slightly and trembles harder.

“She’s allergic to nuts,” she squeaks out.

“And she hates the dark. She has this—this little star nightlight that shines up on her ceiling that makes her feel better. Maybe you could… you could find one? Buy one wherever you’re going?”

She bites her lip and he can see she nearly draws blood. She’s doing everything in her power to keep it together. And his heart just shatters for her, his friend. “Of course. Anything she wants, Blondie. Promise.” He vows this to her, just as seriously as he did on the altar with Thea. She walks closer then, and cradles the girls face in her palms. She presses a kiss to her chin, then to her left cheek, her right, and her forehead. It’s methodical. Like it’s something she does all the time. Like it’s a prayer.

“Don’t tell her, Roy,” she cries, tears flowing freely as she pushes some stray golden hairs from the girl’s face. “She’s young enough. She’ll forget eventually. Let her forget, okay? About me, about Oliver… About Wi—“ she chokes on the name. “Felicity…” he whispers, hoping to comfort that older but still prevalent hurt. She waves him off and composes herself.

He knows the next thing she says will be vital.

“I want you to be her father, Roy." 

"I want her to know that she has parents that love her and support her, that will protect her no matter what. Even if—even if those parents can’t be Oliver and me. Can you do that?”

It's the easiest decision he's ever had to make.

He died for Oliver Queen. He devoted himself to Thea Queen. He pledged his allegiance to Felicity Smoak Queen. And he'd live for Olivia Queen. The only true family he has ever known. He'd do it every time for them, over and over again.

The two of them are crying now. The former archer both endlessly honored and completely devastated by his sister-in-law’s request. “I can do that. I want to do that. For the both of you… for her.”

She nods solemnly, wiping at her eyes. He watches her take a deep breath and find her resolve. She leans down and presses one last kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “I love you. I love you. I _love_ you. I am so sorry,” she rasps into the girl’s ear. “You were the key, baby. The key to everything for me and Daddy. You have made our whole lives. You’re it, Olivia. But I have to keep you safe. I promised him I would. I promised you before you were even born. So this is it. Have the very best life, meyn tayer. I will miss you for all of my days.”

Blue eyes, filled with water, meet his for the last time.

“Go,” she orders.

With a nod and an unspoken promise between them, Roy heads towards safety leaving Felicity Smoak and the child once known as Olivia Moira Queen behind.

When they're far enough outside of Star City's limits, he takes a moment to rest. He removes his coat and wraps it around her little form, a chill seeping into the mid-September air. When he's satisfied that she's both warm and comfortable, he rubs a soothing hand up and down her little back as she breaths steadily against his neck.

“Mia,” he whispers in her ear, “We agreed to call you Mia. Mia Dearden."

 

* * *

 

Per babycenter (lol), the name "Mia" has latin origins and it means "mine" or "wished-for child." 

I found this quite apt. ;)


End file.
